Yesterday, Google surprised everyone when they announced that Eric Schmidt would be stepping down from his ten year position as Google CEO to be replaced by Google co-founder Larry Page.

But why? According to sources speaking to the New Yorker, Schmidt’s decision to depart from the role of CEO was intricately linked to Google’s decision to pull out of China due to censorship concerns, with Schmidt becoming frustrated when Larry Page and Sergey Brin sided against him in the controversy.

Schmidt apparently felt that Google should stay in China, the world’s largest developing market, and he “lost some energy and focus after losing the China decision.”

That loss of focus has had its effect on Google, which has seen many of its most prized engineers jumping ship to Facebook, while more and more governments have begun targeting Google over privacy and copyright matters.

According to the New Yorker, Schmidt is now essentially done with Google, apparently feeling that he’s lost the edge necessary to be CEO. Instead, he’s stepping down to the role of executive chairman starting on April 4th, but apparently he only intends to remain in that position for a year… just long enough to make sure the transition goes smoothly. Then it’s off to greener pastures.